Frozen, stuck, not moving. Time is money and people needing to buy or sell real estate watch the clock constantly.
Because everything is on hold in their life. Until the property gets listed on the market to start the trip to a sit down pass the paper closing. To make a move. Everything in the buyer and seller's life is at a stand still until the current personal real estate puzzle is solved. 
It is our job as the real estate professional to lay out the steps. When to pounce, how to avoid loss of valuable time and end up empty handed.
Someone needs to take charge to lead, follow or get out of the way right?
To advise the seller about what is the current market value and what loose ends need tying up and what projects the property owner intended to do that need to be scrapped. Now that the property is getting ready to hop on the MLS conveyor belt of current listings to ooh and ahh buyers.
To entice those buyers to step up and sign on the dotted line of the purchase and sale agreement.
All this takes precious time and a property thrown on the market too quickly without the preparation done correctly is not wise. It makes the wrong first impression that hurts the value and impacts the marketing time as the property competes with lots of other listings in the race to the closing.
But a seller taking forever and missing sales opportunities while other properties get listed and sold is a sad situation. As a real estate broker, I cattle prod in a nice way to get along little doggy. To move the seller toward the goal of getting ready, preparing the property price, developing the marketing, setting the expectations of what's ahead. To see the red flags and know when to wave the white one when all the real estate vital signs show pull up the white sheet and toe tag this one. Bring in the back up buyers who are never told the property is gone until it is. 
The buyer has a long list too of what to do when and why that we go over in detail. The connect the dots coaching to make a real estate closing happen involves steps in getting ready to buy. Before just charging out and putting a property under contract that fails to make it to the finish line.
A property tied up that should never have been labeled "sale pending" and removed from the market selection of current listings for sale.
If they are not qualified to buy, someone has to explain why and help them change that situation. We work in the ever changing real estate industry and know the steps in the list and sell process. Who to involve in the purchase and sale to be partners in the process.
The buyer and seller only does this real estate hokey pokey once or just a hand full of times in their life.
Their own personal home or other property type listing sale is a limited experience that is dated. And maybe they are part of an estate sale from a loved one that died along the way from their accumulation stage to the down sizing retirement life mode that always involves real estate.
Read more, the full article on Time, How It Can Be Wasted And Kill A Real Estate Listing Sale.
I'm Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
